Bobbin winding



Dec. 5, 1967 J. A. BRIGGS ET AL 3,356,312

BOBBIN WINDING Filed Oct. 20, 1966 69 4255 Ei e/V1564 (b4 LErr Attorneys United States Patent 3,356,312 BOBBIN WINDING James Anthony Briggs, Cheltenham, and Charles Femleigh Collett, Hucclecote, England, assignors to Imperial Chemical Industries Limited, London, England, a corporation of Great Britain Filed Oct. 20, 1966, Ser. No. 588,055 Claims priority, application Great Britain, Oct. 29, 1965, 45,888/ 65 2 Claims. (Cl. 242-164) This invention relates to wound bobbins of yarn.

The turns of yarn first laid-down on the bobbin (the transfer tail as they are collectively termed) are wound on a portion of the bobbin axially off-set from where the main body of yarn is to be wound. These turns are required to be readily accessible and easily unwindable by those in the textile trade who have to do with converting yarn stored on bobbins into fabrics or other textile materials. On the other hand, these turns of yarn forming the transfer tail must be maintained in a wound condition until the bobbin is actually required for use and several different methods of securing transfer tails have been proposed hitherto.

This invention is based on the discovery of an especially advantageous method of securing transfer tails. It has been discovered that if a tab or strip of flexible material (say paper) is caused to adhere by a layer of suitable adhesive to the surface of a bobbin where the transfer tail is to be wound before winding commences, and the tab or strip has an edge portion that carried no adhesive, it is easily possible so to position the tab or strip on the bobbin surface that, as the wound bobbin is removed from the winding machine (is doffed) one of the turns of yarn in the transfer tail is caused to enter (with or without manual guidance) between the said edge portion and the underlying bobbin surface and then cut into the ad; hesive layer, to become secured.

According to the invention, a bobbin carrying a main body of yarn and a transfer tail consisting of turns of yarn that are the first Wound on the bobbin and are situated at a location along the bobbin axially offset from the main body of yarn has its transfer tail secured to the bobbin surface by means of a tab or strip of flexible material adhering directly to the bobbin surface over at least the mid-portion of said tab or strip by means of an adhesive carried by said material in that mid-portion, said tab or strip being free of adhesive in its leading edgeportion, said leading edge-portion overlying a part of at least one of said turns of yarn whereby the yarn is embedded in the adhesive between the mid-portion of the tab or strip and the bobbin surface.

The said leading edge portion of the tab of strip will be the leading edge of the tab when the bobbin is rotated to wind yarn thereon. Such leading non-adhesivebearing edge portion should desirably be small and narrow since, were it to be flap-like, the counter-current of air impinging on that edge portion of the tab or strip as the bobbin rotates, coupled with centrifugal action, might succeed in peeling off the tab or strip, or at least in rendering it unfit for its purpose. It will be realised that some of the more powerful adhesives may well be unsuitable for use in the practice of this invention, because the ultimate user of the wound bobbin will desire to be able readily to tear off the tab or strip to free the transfer tail, and also because the bobbins will normally be returnable to the yarn producer for re-use so that formerly-applied tabs or strips, or parts thereof, and any residual adhesive on the bobbin must be easily removable.

It will also be clear that some very brittle or tough adhesives may well be unsuitable as not allowing the yarn to become adequately embedded therein. Ideal for use 3,356,312 Patented Dec. 5, 1967 are the now very familiar rubbery adhesives used to coat the backs of paper stickers and carpet-binding tapes and which are usually covered by waxed strips until they are to be used, when the waxed strips are peeled-off.

The tabs or strips may very suitably be made by chopping from a length of adhesive-coated paper, the width of the paper equalling the length of the tabs or strips.

Advantageously the tabs or strips are extended in length beyond their adhesive-coated portion so as to provide a flap opposite to the aforesaid non-adhesive-bearing edge portion, which flap forms the trailing end portion of the tab or strip when the bobbin on which the tab or strip is fixed is rotated to wind yarn thereon. Such flap serves to facilitate easy removal of the tab or Strip to free the transfer tail, by providing a gripping point.

The tabs or strips may be applied by hand, but they are well-adapted for machine application with attendant precise positioning. Application of the tabs or strips takes place before winding is commenced, either before the bobbin has been mounted on the winding spindle, or after it has been so mounted ready for winding. This is more convenient than, and in contradistinction to, the known meth- 0d of applying tabs after the bobbin has been wound with yarn, whereby several turns of yarn in the transfer tail are covered by the tab and stuck to the surface of the bobbin.

The best dimensions for the tabs or strips will, of course, be a matter in any given case of some trial and error since the pitch of the helical turns of the transfer tail and bobbin diameter over the relevant portion will be important factors bearing on the choice of suitable dimensions.

It is possible, in accordance with the principle patented in British Patent No. 974,500, to arrange for yarn capture by the tab or strip to take place automatically while the wound bobbin is taken off the winding machine (doffed) i.e. without manual assistance, since the turns of yarn in the transfer tail above the tab or strip tend to hug close to the bobbin surface and to be pulled downwardly, whilst the yarn below the tab or strip is pulled off the lower end of the bobbin on account of the doffing-motion.

Thus, as the helix angle in the turn of yarn next above the tab or strip increases when the yarn in that turn is held against rising further with the bobbin as the bobbin is dotted, the yarn in that turn tends smoothly to enter beneath the leading edge of the tab or strip and to become embedded in the adhesive. At this stage in the doffing process, low denier yarns, at least, may break under the tension and so do away with the need, which otherwise exists, to sever the yarn on the bobbin from that in the waste residue wound beneath.

The present invention therefore, also provides a method of winding a bobbin as defined hereinbefore in which bobbin the transfer tail is secured to the surface of the bobbin by the tab or strip of adhesive-backed flexible material with the non-adhesive leading edge portion, wherein a turn of yarn in the transfer tail enters or is caused to enter beneath the leading edge-portion of the tab or strip when the bobbin is doifed and so becomes embedded in the adhesive between the tab or strip and the bobbin surface.

It is to be noted that this is a different process from those in which yarn is entrained to wind on a bobbin by a projection extending from the surface thereof, and turns of yarn constituting a transfer tail are wound in opposing helices above and below the projection.

The invention will now be described with reference to the accompanying drawings in which:

FIGURE 1 is a sectional view of a tab or strip of flexible material for securing the transfer tail;

FIGURE 1A is a plan view of said tab or strip;

FIGURE 2 is a side view of the transfer tail securing tab afiixed to a bobbin prepared for use;

FIGURE 3 shows the bobbin, on completion of winding, during the process of being doifed, with the final turn of yarn in the transfer tail pulled downwardly so as to be trapped under the leading edge portion of the tab.

Referring to FIGURES 1 and 1A, reference numeral 1 indicates a paper layer of the tab or strip which carries the adhesive layer 3 and end-portions 5 of masking tape. The latter end-portions ensure that the tab or strip will not be adherent to the bobbin surface at the leading edgeportion or at the trailing end thereof, which latter then serves as a flap for easy removal of the tab when the transfer tail is needed for use.

Prior to placing the bobbin on a spindle, the tab, now indicated generally by reference numeral 7 in FIGURE 2, is adhered to the lower end of the bobbin 9, which bobbin may be of a kind comprising a plastics sleeve portion 11 mounted on a metal core portion 13 and having a plastics nose fitting 15.

FIGURE 3 shows the bobbin on completion of winding the main body 17 of yarn thereon and whilst in the process of being doffed from the winding spindle 19, e.g. that of a ring-spindle wind-up. The spaced turns of yarns 21 comprising the transfer tail will have been wound immediately after the waste bunch has been wound below the level of the bottom of the bobbin. On dofling, by lifting the bobbin upwardly off the spindle, the last turn or two of yarn which will have been wound over the tab will slip off the end of the bobbin, and the next upper turn will slip into the slot formed between the leading edgeportion 23 of the tab 7, and thence becomes jammed by being embedded in the adhesive securing the mid-portion 35 of the tab to the bobbin surface. The yarn will then be cut below the tab, thus freeing the bobbin from the waste yarn. The trailing end 27, of the tab forms a flap for the subsequent removal of the tab.

The dimensions of a suitable tab are inch long by inch wide; and the thickness of the layers may be 0.006 in. for the flexible material, e.g. paper, 0.004 in. for the adhesive and 0.002 in. for the end-portions of masking tape.

We claim:

1. A bobbin carrying a main body of yarn and a transfer tail consisting of turns of yarn that are the first wound on the bobbin and are situated at a location along the bobbin axially offset from the main body of yarn, the transfer tail being secured to the bobbin surface by means of a tab of flexible material adhering directly to the bobbin surface over at least the mid-portion of the tab by means of an adhesive carried by said material in that midportion, and in which said tab is free of adhesive in its leading edge-portion whereby the tab overlies a part of at least one of said turns of yarn in said transfer tail which part is embedded in the adhesive between the tab and the bobbin surface.

2. A bobbin according to claim 1 and in which the tab has a trailing end-portion constituting a non-adhesive flap as a gripping point for ready removal of the tab.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,800,290 7/1957 Hess 242 3,160,356 12/1964 Fisher et al 242l 8 3,263,408 8/1966 Mansfield et al. 242-1251 X 3,283,489 11/1966 Bakker 242165 X FOREIGN PATENTS 228,107 4/1925 Great Britain.

STANLEY N. GILREATH, Primary Examiner. 

1. A BOBBIN CARRYING A MAIN BODY OF YARN AND A TRANSFER TAIL CONSISTING OF TURNS OF YARN THAT ARE THE FIRST WOUND ON THE BOBBIN AND ARE SITUATED AT A LOCATION ALONG THE BOBBIN AXIALLY OFFSET FROM THE MAIN BODY OF YARN, THE TRANSFER TAIL BEING SECURED TO THE BOBBIN SURFACE BY MEANS OF A TAB OF FLEXIBLE MATERIAL ADHERING DIRECTLY TO THE BOBBIN SURFACE OVER AT LEAST THE MID-PORTION OF THE TAB BY MEANS OF AN ADHESIVE CARRIED BY SAID MATERIAL IN THAT MIDPORTION, AND IN WHICH SAID TAB IS FREE OF ADHESIVE IN ITS LEADING EDGE-PORTION WHEREBY THE TAB OVERLIES A PART OF AT LEAST ONE OF SAID TURNS OF YARN IN SAID TRANSFER TAIL WHICH PART IS EMBEDDED IN THE ADHESIVE BETWEEN THE TAB AND THE BOBBIN SURFACE. 